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January 4, 2011

Raise Taxes on the Wealthy to Balance Budget, Poll Says

Americans tell ’60 Minutes’ and 'Vanity Fair' they prefer that to cuts in Defense, Medicare or Social Security

A new opinion poll from CBS News' program "60 Minutes" and Vanity Fair magazine says that the majority of Americans would boost taxes on the wealthy rather than cut spending on other social programs or defense to balance “the national budget,” according to the two news outlets.

The report says that 61% of overall participants (and 46% of those with $100,000 or more) said boosting “taxes on the rich” was the way to balance the budget, preferring that by a wide margin over the other choices.

While 20% said they’d prefer to see Washington cut “defense spending,” only 4% suggested that they’d first cut “Medicare” and 3% said to cut “Social Security.”

The poll, of more than 1,000 randomly selected adults took place by phone, Nov.29-Dec. 3.